Jeff Beck
Beck grew up in Wallington, England. His mother’s piano playing and the family’s radio tuned to everything from dance to classical made sure Beck was surrounded by music from a young age. Today he is recognized as a groundbreaking artist who’s inimitable combination of primal shredding and cool perfectionism has left and indelible mark on everything from hard rock and jazz fusion to rockabilly and techno during the past 40-plus years.
After famously replacing Eric Clapton as the Yardbirds’ lead guitarist in 1965, Beck went on to form The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals and Ron Wood on bass. Their two albums - “Truth” (1968) and “Beck-Ola” (1969) – would become musical touchstones for hard rockers in the years to come.
Constantly evolving Beck’s next move would be to form a power trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, which released “Beck, Bogert and Appice” (1973), once again shattering people’s preconceptions of what a rock guitarist was supposed to sound like.
Music has always shared space with Jeff’s love of hot rods. After the success “Blow By Blow” and “Wired,” Beck began devoting more time to his fleet of cars, but 1985’s “Flash” kept him in the spotlight as he earned the Best Rock Instrumental Grammy - for the song “Escape.” A second Grammy came with “Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas”, and a third for “Dirty Mind” from the “You Had It Coming” album in 2001.
Touring has always been a big part of Jeff’s career, his live shows and virtuoso solos becoming something of legend. His playing style continues to break new ground and reflect the eclectic musical mix that is his trademark. The list of people that he plays with similarly reflects his commitment to the best of the best, and his week's residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club saw Jeff joined by the likes of Joss Stone, Imogen Heap, old mates The Big Town Playboys and another long time pal, Eric Clapton. The phenomenal performances were recorded in high definition for DVD and Blu-Ray entitled ‘Jeff Beck: Performing This Week…Live At Ronnie Scott’s’, and has now gone Platinum.
In April 2009 Jeff was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in his own right, and from thereon the year was non-stop for Jeff. Guesting with Stevie Wonder at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concerts at Madison Square Gardens, another world tour, picking up a nomination for a 5th Grammy for the track ‘A Day In The Life’, and entering the studio with producers Steve Lipson and Trevor Horn to work on his first studio album in nearly seven years.
2010 is set to be another huge year for Jeff, and one which introduces his new band. Jason Rebello remains on keyboards, but on bass Jeff brings Rhonda Smith to the stage. Rhonda was the legendary Prince’s bassist of choice for ten years before joining Jeff. On drums the famed musician and Grammy Award winning Producer Narada Michael Walden steps in to the fold. After performing at the Grammy Awards ceremony on January 31st, the band’s concert debut is in February when Jeff plays a series of exclusive shows with Eric Clapton in London, New York, Toronto and Montreal. After the shows with Clapton, Jeff embarks on a major world tour to support his new studio album ‘Emotion & Commotion’.
2010 is set to be another huge year for Jeff, and one which introduces his new band. Jason Rebello remains on keyboards, but on bass Jeff brings Rhonda Smith to the stage. Rhonda was the legendary Prince’s bassist of choice for ten years before joining Jeff. On drums the famed musician and Grammy Award winning Producer Narada Michael Walden steps in to the fold.
Jeff won his 5th Grammy and performed a tribute to the late Les Paul at Grammy Awards ceremony on January 31st. The band’s concert debut was in February when Jeff played a series of exclusive shows with Eric Clapton in London, New York, Toronto and Montreal. In March , Jeff embarked on a major world tour to support his new studio album ‘Emotion & Commotion’.
In June, Jeff played 2 dates at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York, with The Imelda May Band and some special guests in Tribute to the late Les Paul. The shows were a huge success with some of the world’s greatest guitarists in attendance watching the astonishing talent of Jeff Beck.
After a busy year of touring the world promoting his album Emotion & Commotion, Jeff has been nominated for 5 categories at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
At the February 2011 Grammy Awards, Jeff won Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Hammerhead” and Best Pop Instrumental performance for “Nessun Dorma”, both from Emotion & Commotion. This marks only the second time an artist has won Grammys in both of these categories in the same year. The first time was in 2006 by guitar legend and Beck mentor Les Paul. Beck also won for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for “Imagine,” his collaboration with Herbie Hancock.
Jeff toured his Rock ‘n’ Roll Party in the US for 10 dates 2011 with The Imelda May Band, before joining Jason Rebello, Rhonda Smith and Narada Michael Walden to tour several dates in the US before they came to Europe for the month of June.
In July 2011 Jeff received an Honorary Fellow from the University of the Arts of London in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of Music.
The University of Sussex honored Jeff with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music in July 2011.
Jeff featured on the track 'Do To Me', for Trombone Shorty’s new album release ‘For True’ that was released in September 2011.
Jeff joined Steven Tyler on stage when he opened the show for the iHeartRadio Music
Festival in Las Vegas in September 2011.
After finishing his Emotion and Commotion Tour in Canada and North America in
October 2011, Jeff received the Living Legend Award from Classic Rock Magazine.
Jeff’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul Album has been nominated for a 2012
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.